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Cosby wants jury pool prescreened for bias before trial

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2016, file photo, Bill Cosby departs after a pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. Cosby's lawyers hope to prescreen potential jurors to weed out those with opinions about the sex-assault case before jury selection begins in earnest. A defense motion filed Monday, March 20, 2017, says the "inflammatory" worldwide coverage of the case makes it likely that some potential jurors have opinions about the actor's guilt or innocence. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

PHILADELPHIA – Bill Cosby’s lawyers hope to prescreen potential jurors to weed out those with opinions about the sex-assault case before jury selection begins in person.

A defence motion filed Monday says the “inflammatory” worldwide coverage of the case has probably left some potential jurors with opinions about the actor’s guilt or innocence.

They say pretrial questionnaires have been used before in celebrity trials.

The 79-year-old Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting a young woman at his house in 2004. Cosby calls the sex acts consensual.

He is set to go on trial June 5 near Philadelphia. The jurors will be chosen from the Pittsburgh area because of pretrial publicity and sequestered about 300 miles near the Montgomery County courthouse.

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